LET'S BE FLUSHED WITH PRIDE

Under the imaginative slogan All Cisterns Go, local councils, like our own North Lincolnshire unitary authority, are being encouraged to do more to halt the decline of the great British public loo and to adopt pioneering new approaches to boost access to public toilets.
In Brigg, we have decent public conveniences in Cary Lane (pictured) and near The Monument, but they are not open 24 hours a day.
Indeed, on Sundays and bank holidays they are only available for people 'caught short' because Brigg Town Council pays North Lincolnshire more than £500 a year to fund the man who does the locking and unlocking.
True, in the evenings people can pop into pubs, while there are toilets at Tesco's store, available while it is open for business - so to speak.
But surely that's not the point. We have a Tourist Information Centre, run by North Lincolnshire Council, yet is it good for tourism to have visitors turning up at the town centre toilets to find them locked?
A Government spokesman said 150 years ago public lavatories were seen by councils as being the key to good public health - as well as a chance to promote leading edge architecture.
"They became a symbol of civic pride as well as the advances of sanitation," he said. "But in recent years there has been a significant fall in both the level of provision and public satisfaction."
Now a Strategic Guide has been produced - aimed at encouraging local councils to look at a range of things they can now do to provide better access and better quality toilets across the country.
"We think that the state of our public toilets should indeed be a mark of civic and community pride," said the spokesman.
"The Guide will say that being able to use clean and accessible public loos are important to everyone - but it is critically important to particular groups such as disabled or older people and families with young children.
"And the whole community suffers - not least because poor quality provision in our towns and city centres contributes to anti-social behaviour through 'street fouling' and poor hygiene standards."
Communities Minister Baroness Andrews is encouraging councils to consider a range of innovative ideas and actions to boost the availability, and quality of, public toilets.
They include new 'SatLav' schemes - a new mobile text initiative which sends immediate information on the nearest toilet and opening times.
However, now for a word of caution: Councils will soon be given the discretion to charge for toilets they own and run. This will be their decision and the guide stresses councils should consult local people about how to promote public access to toilets, and if they take a decision to introduce charging it should be fair and reasonable.
Baroness Andrews added: "Some people may find the whole idea of a strategic guide on public toilets funny. But let's remember that there are serious issues too, issues that make public access to toilets a matter of vital importance to many people.
"For older people, disabled people, and families with young children poor access to public toilets can make it difficult to leave home, and reduce their freedoms and sense of dignity.
"For decades, the provision of good municipal facilities was a matter of considerable civic pride. But for many years we seem to have gone backwards. We need to reverse this decline."
Richard Chisnell, of the British Toilet Association, said: "We are very grateful to the Government for taking up the important issue of public toilet provision. First impressions can be gained in the toilets on arrival and it is these that get taken home by visitors.
"Expanding and improving the range of toilets available for public use is the right way forward and we welcome the positive changes that this guidance could inspire."